Keckley 2021 Player of the Year; Hampshire slots 5 on All-Area team
Apr. 18—Hampshire dominated the area on the court during the 2020-21 boys basketball season, and the Trojans continued the trend off it.
With a 15-5 record, a trip to the Class AAA state semifinals and the Area Championship, Hampshire placed five players on the All-Area team, headed by Area Player of the Year Drew Keckley, as selected by area head coaches.
Calvary landed a pair of standouts on the first team, Frankfort and Keyser had first-teamers and Petersburg slotted a pair on the second squad.
The first team consisted of Trevor Sardo (Hampshire), Darrick Broadwater (Keyser), Jake Clark (Frankfort), and Colby Mallery and Ashby Whitacre (Calvary).
Mikhi Anderson, Christian Hicks and Carter Smith (Hampshire) headed the second team, which also included Slade Saville and Jacob Hawk (Petersburg).
Player of the Year Drew Keckley, Hampshire
Keckley didn't put up ungodly numbers, but nobody on Hampshire did.
No player was bigger than the team, and Keckley represented that, always playing within himself on a Hampshire squad that made a name for its defensive intensity.
"He just brought stability, not just with the team but himself," Hampshire head coach Dan Alkire said. "He was consistent, there wasn't much that deterred him from thinking he could do anything on the court.
"He just had the mentality and the drive that you don't see much from a high school kid. He was a good kid off the court and on the court."
With that said, Keckley was capable of turning it on when needed, as evidenced by his 25-point outburst to lead No. 8 seed Hampshire over No. 1 Robert C. Byrd in the state tournament. The win was the first such No. 8 over 1 upset in the coaches' seeding era that began in 2005 (No. 8 seeds were 0-45 before).
For the season, Keckley led Hampshire in scoring (11.7 points per game), assists (2.9) and 3-pointers (33), while adding 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals per night. The senior was named Class AAA All-State second team and Potomac Valley Conference Player of the Year after the season.
Of the five coaches that returned ballots, four selected Keckley as the Player of the Year. Mallery received one vote.
"His ability to get to the basket, make midrange shots and from deep," Alkire said of what Keckley excelled at on the court. "He was able to get to those spots and score."
First Team Darrick Broadwater, Keyser
An excellent slasher and a streaky shooter, Broadwater was tasked with a lot during his senior season at Keyser.
Broadwater rose to the occasion, scoring at the second-best rate in the area at 16.2 points per game to go along with eight rebounds and two steals a contest. The senior was voted All-PVC for his efforts.
"He just realized he just had to take over the team," Keyser head coach Johnny Haines, Jr. said of his leader. "One of the best athletes to come through Keyser, that really shined for our team and kept us in a lot of games."
Jake Clark, Frankfort
In a season of inconsistency for Frankfort, Clark was somebody head coach Scott Slider could always count on.
Clark was the leading scorer in Frankfort's first win of the season after an 0-6 start, scoring 12 points against rival Keyser, and he was its leading scorer in a near-miracle victory at Clay County in the co-region finals (15).
A Class AA All-State honorable mention and All-PVC performer, Clark averaged 11.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.9 steals a game, shooting 69% from the charity stripe.
"Jake brought a nice offensive presence for us," Frankfort head coach Scott Slider said. "He struggled through the preseason games, but he found his stroke from the third game on. He was good for 15 or 20 every night for us after that. Nice midrange jumper, could shoot the ball from three.
"Just a really solid high school basketball player."
Colby Mallery, Calvary
While Ashby Whitacre was one of the best scorers in the area, Mallery played a Dennis Rodman-esque role on Calvary.
A jack of all trades, Mallery was a lockdown defender and strong rebounder on one end, and he grew into a legit scoring option of the Eagles on the other. For the season, Mallery posted averages of 13.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.
"The best thing about Colby, there wasn't one area he was best in," Calvary head coach Scott Mallery said. "He was just an all-around good ballplayer.
"At the start of the season, he was really good defensively, getting rebounds, steals, anything we needed him to. As the season progressed, his offense picked up as the season did. He was also a good teammate, and a person we could count on at all times."
Trevor Sardo, Hampshire
A mainstay on Times-News All-Area teams across several sports and seasons, Sardo added one final postseason honor to his name.
Sardo, who made three consecutive All-Area first teams on the football field, helped Hampshire realize its potential thanks to his team-first mentality, taking a reduced scoring role for the better of the squad.
Even so, Sardo was second on the Trojans at 9.7 points per game to go along with 3.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.8 steals a contest. The All-PVC performer also buried 22 threes and hit 40 of 60 free throws.
"He's just a pure athlete," Alkire said. "You have pure athletes that sometimes don't pan out. He was a basketball athlete as well. His senior year, he ended up almost taking a step back in his scoring, but he was willing to take that role.
"He didn't let taking fewer shots and scoring less get to him, and instead he gave everything where we needed him (rebounding, defense)."
Ashby Whitacre, Calvary
The area's leading scorer, Whitacre was lethal from beyond the arc for Calvary, hitting a team-high 31 3-pointers despite garnering constant defensive attention.
Over the course of the Eagles' 16-game season, the senior guard scored at least 20 points nine times, exploding for a season-high 30 in Calvary's first game of the season against Faith.
Whitacre averaged 18.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals an outing.
"Ashby, since he started playing varsity his sophomore year, he's well-known around the area as a great 3-point shooter," Scott Mallery said. "That carried into his senior year, but with that reputation, each game he'd face the other team's top defender.
"He was able to deal with it. He was still able to have a lot of high 20, 30-point games. When we needed a big shot, we looked to Ashby to make that shot."
Second Team Mikhi Anderson, Hampshire
Anderson didn't light up the scoreboard, but the Hampshire senior was arguably the best defender in the area in 2020-21. For the year, Anderson averaged six points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists a night.
"He was the guy that when we needed to shut someone down, he was one of the two kids we'd rely on," Alkire said. "He's just a pure athlete. Now he's setting records at West Liberty in hurdles.
"He's a hard worker, he's a kid that would do anything you'd ask. He made leaps and bounds from 10th grade to his senior year. His rebounding, getting off the ground and blocking shots and his defense.
"He's one of those kids that it just makes you feel good when he achieves something. A very sweet kid."
Jacob Hawk, Petersburg
Continuing the trend of hard-nosed defenders, Hawk was Petersburg's leading scorer, and he was also up for the challenge on the other end of the floor. He averaged 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds over the course of the year.
"Jacob was a kid that always gave you 110%," Petersburg head coach Stacey Berg said. "He understood the game plan, what we were trying to do. He always prepared well for the game.
"His defense, he was not a kid that was going to put up 20 or 22 (points), but I could always put him against another athlete. We would challenge him night after night, 'This is your assignment, this is on you.' And he would never back down."
Christian Hicks, Hampshire
Along with Anderson, Hicks was another player that fits that no-nonsense mold on the hardwood, intimidating the opposition in the lane. He posted marks of 6.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and one steal an outing.
"He's like a bull, man," Alkire said. "He's similar to Mikhi with what he did for us in rebounding and playing defense. He held it down for us in the paint. Even though he was tall and slender, he was strong.
"You knew he was going to be all business in the locker room, and that translated to the court. ... And it carries over. He was the salutatorian in his class. The same practice and standards that he held in school carried over to the basketball court."
Slade Saville, Petersburg
The lone non-senior on the entire squad, Saville announced his presence to the PVC with his rebounding ability. In 2020-21, Saville scored 7.2 points and pulled down eight rebounds a game. The following season, he'd average double-digit boards a night.
"Slade is one of the most coachable kids that I've had in a long time," Berg said. "His rebounding skills and effort were second to none. He was really close to a double-double every game.
"He understood all the little things. Where you had to be when the ball went up. He understood that very well, and is a kid that also knew where to be. Get a kid with nine, 10, 11 rebounds a game, it'll get you extra possessions.
"When the game is on the line and we needed a bucket, Slade was one of our go-to guys."
Carter Smith, Hampshire
The final member of the All-Area squad wasn't even a starter on Hampshire, often not coming in until after the opening quarter to provide an offensive spark for the Trojans.
Smith made the most of his opportunities, scoring 9.3 points a game and hitting 30 triples. Following the season, he made the All-PVC team.
"He was our sixth man, and even though he came off the bench, he finished fourth in minutes," Alkire said. "He gave us such a spark off the bench. For a while he was leading us in scoring and shooting. He led us in free-throw attempts, shot 25% of our free throws, so he got to the basket.
"He learned his role, embraced it, and put the time in to be the best that he could."
Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.
